
On 3 April 2017, a Swiss parliamentary delegation, led by Ms Margret Kiener Nellen, Swiss National Council Member, who were in Dhaka to attend the Inter-Parliamentary Union meetings, visited a readymade garments factory in Dhaka EPZ. The delegation of nine members was accompanied by Ms Beate K Elsässer, Director of Cooperation and Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of Switzerland in Bangladesh and other representatives from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Bangladesh.
The delegates visited Hop Yick (Bangladesh) Limited that receives support from the Swiss government funded Skills and Employment Programme, Sudokkho. The factory manufactures lingerie for leading European and American brands, one being the British brand, Debenhams.
Partnering with some of the leading international brands and buyers, including Debenhams, Sudokkho provides technical assistance to their supplier factories in Bangladesh to set-up in factory training systems for workers.
The delegation toured the factory, the training centre and met with factory personnel, trainers and workers who had benefitted from receiving the training and appreciated the training model.